


Beloved, All

by ShinjiShazaki



Series: The Nature of Fire [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Sothis is so fun to write, request fic, the tiniest bit of recon to the fic to let this work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 08:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27347872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinjiShazaki/pseuds/ShinjiShazaki
Summary: Sothis cannot and will not deny that she adores Byleth Eisner, enough that she could not bring herself to leave Byleth's soul even when the war ends and her humanity is restored.After all, how else would she bear witness to the family Byleth builds with the little emperor?(Part of The Nature of Fire universe)
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: The Nature of Fire [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1522775
Comments: 6
Kudos: 150





	Beloved, All

**Author's Note:**

> A "request" fic from [user workdatsphincta](https://twitter.com/WorkDatSphincta) on twitter!

Though some might have called it unbecoming, Sothis was not ashamed to admit that she adored Byleth Eisner. She would not have let their souls be bound together had she not, of course, and the way Byleth’s oft blank face went pale at the idea of her vanishing forever was touching in a way no one else in the world could know. Still, Sothis gave her most everything to ensure she could live, and she stayed silent and distant to let Byleth grow as her own person.

The idea of a goddess feeling envy could have been called heretical under the church (or so Sothis had come to think after observing the faithful), but it did not make the pangs she felt as Byleth grew closer and closer to Edelgard any less real. Time soothed, as it always did, and she came to adore the little emperor in her own way. They were remarkable together, fools with each other and the saviors of Fódlan to those who had long been trampled down.

It would have been silly not to enjoy them being happy, observing them as she did. When Byleth was finally free, finally human, and finally gave Edelgard the ring she’d been hiding in her coat pocket, Sothis smiled. Smiled, and resisted the urge to call out to her and surprise her once more.

“Well done,” she’d whispered.

She did not notice how Byleth looked in her direction just after she vanished from sight.

————

At first, Sothis had wanted to give them their privacy. She had kept away to let Byleth grow, after all, and it would not do to suddenly appear before the woman again. It would have been rude, even for a goddess, to interrupt the moments of peace Byleth and Edelgard managed to eke out amidst the chaos of imperial rule and—to Sothis’ surprise and glee—teaching a new class of fledglings in Enbarr. And she could not deny that still the envy lingered, just a bit.

When she caught them slipping away from everything, little smiles on their faces as they found a spot for tea, Sothis would do what she could to leave them be, bound as she still was. Avert her gaze, certainly, or remove her presence from the world to take a nap in the warmth of her space in Byleth’s soul. But as time went on, she began to linger. She became curious, all memories of any special person from her life gone.

Edelgard was a piece of the sun itself when she and Byleth were alone. A woman of sweet, adoring smiles and gentle words, looking so weary beneath her heavy, heavy crown. She was happy, more than any other time Sothis had seen her before giving her strength to Byleth.

“What a miracle you’ve managed,” she whispered one day as Byleth and Edelgard took afternoon tea in the royal garden.

As she had herself a little giggle, turned away from them, she did not notice how Byleth hesitated in reaching for a cookie. She did not notice how her smile grew warmer.

————

There were times that Sothis absolutely did not watch over Byleth, and they all had to do with when she took her beloved emperor to bed.

Or wherever else their fancy led them. It made for awkward moments truly unbefitting for a goddess, forcing her to vanish abruptly on more than one occasion.

Still, it was their right as lovers. Sothis never scoffed, never commented. She would simply shake her head, smiling, as she vanished.

Fortunately, Byleth never noticed her presence, or lack thereof, during those more ardent moments.

————

When Edelgard’s health began its rapid decline, Sothis could feel the weight of Byleth’s fear from her space in her soul. She wavered, day by day, on if she should reveal herself once more. Byleth was so very alone, trapped in the infirmary as she watched over Edelgard and the other young one (Lysithea, she reminded herself). Even when others came to check on the emperor and her sister from another family, Byleth was alone.

Sothis knew the look in her eyes. It was not something easily forgotten, even with time. The specter of death was haunting Byleth, a hand settled heavily on her back to try to make her bow. The specter was there every moment she was awake, and so it was left to Sothis to do the one thing she was arguably best at.

She put Byleth to sleep every night. And she was there to see Byleth overcome with joy when the procedure to cure Edelgard worked and her love woke from a death-like sleep.

————

Weddings were a bit of a mystery to Sothis. They seemed unfamiliar, or perhaps the scale of Byleth and Edelgard’s wedding was beyond what she might have been used to long ago. She hovered overhead and out of sight, agog and pleased at the fabulous party thrown all throughout Enbarr. Though hunger was not a thing she experienced any longer, the treats and drinks passed around freely were quite tempting.

She had watched their secret midnight ceremony a week prior, of course, but seeing them wed in daylight, proud of their love, was a true wonder. Their vows were the truest words in the world that day, and Sothis could not help but linger to watch and listen.

As expected, no one else noticed her as she floated near the priest woman marrying Byleth and Edelgard. Byleth, however, looked directly at her as the priest spoke to the gathered crowd, and their gazes finally met once again. They both held still, and then Sothis laughed and shrugged.

“You are no fool,” she said, and she vanished from sight when Byleth simply smiled at her.

————

“I’ve told El about you,” Byleth said quietly on an early morning walk from the palace to the academy. “She believes me, but she doesn’t want to try to meet you.”

“How rude! I would be glad to speak with your emperor, and yet she insults me! The cheek of this girl!”

“That’s not it,” Byleth laughed. “She couldn’t see you at our wedding, so she figures she just can’t see you at all. And she said it’s more important for me to see you than it is for her to try and meet a goddess.”

Sothis harrumphed, but smiled all the same. “Very well. I will continue to wish her good will and health, then.”

“Thanks. We’re going to need it before long.”

“Yes, and remind your fledglings to not run headlong into danger,” Sothis said. “My power is your power, whatever of it still lingers in you, and I cannot protect them if they are out of your reach.”

“I know.” Before they reached the academy, Byleth stopped to look at her. There was a smile on her face, warmer and stronger than any she’d managed at Garreg Mach, and she said, “I’m glad to see you again, Sothis.”

“As I am glad to speak to you, little one.”

————

When it came to pregnancy and childbirth, Sothis considered herself a bit blessed to remember absolutely nothing. It seemed a miserable thing, based on how Edelgard struggled with food and fatigue, but it was rare to find her bemoaning her choice. She smiled with the same beatific radiance she had whenever she was alone with Byleth, and Sothis was relieved that her health never truly failed.

Childbirth was no glorious thing, but the little one Byleth and Edelgard named Adelaide certainly was.

————

She could not blame them for wanting to leave Enbarr and their crowns behind. Had the option been available, she would’ve overturned the world for them to make good an escape with each other and little Adelaide. The girl had left an imprint on her heart straight away, and that only grew deeper as she found her identity with her mothers’ love.

When they finally made good their escape and went to live in Aibell, it was a liberation for all of them. Sothis would not admit it, even to Byleth, but she had craved something less cramped than the great capitol city. The ability to look at the sky, the trees, the rich dark earth as Byleth went into the woods for carving material was something she had missed for an unfathomable count of years.

Adelaide, too, was happier at once. She learned to run up and down their hill, and she learned how to grow flowers in their garden. There was always something she wanted to do, and Sothis had the remarkable fortune that Byleth did not have an academy to go teach at for the first year and a half they lived into their house. It let her watch Adelaide as she grew, healthy and happy and always so quick to smile.

“One wonders if you would’ve charmed your emperor even more quickly if you’d been able to smile like her when we arrived at Remire,” Sothis said to her one afternoon as Byleth carved and Adelaide, a mere three years old, played with blocks.

They both laughed, and neither of them noticed that Adelaide looked curiously at Sothis.

————

“Mommy,” Adelaide said, tugging on Byleth’s sleeve one winter’s morn when she was three and a half, “who’s that?”

“Who’s who, kiddo?” Byleth said, looking away from her carving project.

“That,” Adelaide said, and she pointed directly at Sothis where she sat on the counter across the room.

Byleth stared. Sothis stared as well. She boggled, and then rushed to pull her legs out of Adelaide’s reach when she walked over and tried to grab her skirt. When Adelaide went as far as trying to climb onto the counter, hands grabbing, Sothis let gravity lose its hold on her and floated fully out of reach.

“You can see her?” Byleth asked, standing up.

“Yeah,” Adelaide said, watching Sothis drifting in the air. She looked at Byleth and pointed. “Mommy, go up?”

“Well—I could pick you up, but…you can’t do what she does.”

“How come?”

“Oh my,” Sothis said, putting a hand on her chin. “Little one, do you hear my voice as well?”

“Uh huh!”

Sothis shared a look with Byleth. Slowly, careful not to startle, she let gravity take hold of her again until she stood before Adelaide. She crouched down as Byleth let Adelaide walk closer, the two of them regarding one another.

“I fear you are like all others,” Sothis said, offering one hand, “in that you cannot truly touch me.”

Adelaide looked at Byleth, waiting for her to nod before reaching out. Her hand passed through Sothis’, making her jump and hurry back to the safety of Byleth’s arms.

“Have no fear of me, little one,” Sothis said, smiling even as Adelaide looked at her with great uncertainty. “I will never do you harm.”

“I don’t get it,” Byleth said, kneeling down to let Adelaide hold her hand against her chest. “How can she see you when El can’t?”

“Oh, that is a simple matter,” Sothis said. “While Edelgard certainly owns a great deal of your heart, she does not have a piece of your soul as all children do.” She chuckled, tilting her head, and asked, “Little one—Adelaide. How long have you been able to see me?”

“Always,” Adelaide admitted quietly.

“I am not surprised. Have you been afraid to speak to me?”

“No,” Adelaide said, and the way she looked down and away told Sothis it was a child’s innocent lie.

“I see,” she said. “Then are you afraid of me now?”

“No,” Adelaide said, and there was honesty in her voice again. She looked at Sothis with intense curiosity, and then at Byleth when she ruffled her hair.

“Want to know who she is, Addy?” Byleth asked.

“Yeah!” Adelaide said, and she sat down because she recognized the tone of Byleth’s voice as surely as Sothis did. It was one she used when telling a story, and it was one she had cultivated over the years. Sothis smiled and left the ground to sit in the air as Byleth sat down and pulled Adelaide into her lap.

“She’s Sothis,” said Byleth, “but believe it or not, she’s also called the beginning.”

Sothis laughed, waving a hand to urge her on and watching as Adelaide listened. The more Byleth explained, the more Adelaide’s face lit up.

And when Valko, years later, realized that Sothis was there, Adelaide was happy to explain the presence of a goddess in the waking world.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in getting in on "request" fics, take a gander at my pinned tweet on [my twitter](https://twitter.com/shinjishazaki) for more info!
> 
> Heavily inspired by some adorable art by [becchan on twittter](https://twitter.com/amclavespm).


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